Wash. company to pay Army reservist $37,500

Oct. 28, 2013 - 03:09PM
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SEATTLE — An Everett, Wash., company has agreed to pay $37,500 to an Army reservist demoted and then fired following his deployment to Iraq.

The U.S. Justice Department sued All Battery Sales and Service on the grounds that it failed to re-employ Curtis Kirk as a front counter representative or give him a comparable position when he returned from war in 2010.

Instead, federal prosecutors say the company gave him a job with fewer guaranteed hours, a less lucrative commission and fewer opportunities for promotion — and subsequently fired him without just cause.

As part of a settlement agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday, company owners and officials must watch a training video about the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act.